LONDON: Camps and prisons housing Daesh-linked detainees in the northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic have become a ticking time bomb, amid the power vacuum created by the collapse of the Assad regime and cuts to aid from the US.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which helped the US defeat Daesh in 2019, has since then been overseeing Ghuwayran prison, Al-Hol camp and Al-Roj camp, which hold about 56,000 Daesh fighters, their wives and their children.

US assistance has been critical in efforts to secure the camps, which are widely considered to be breeding grounds for extremism and a regional security concern. But last month, Washington told the UN Security Council its support “cannot last forever.”

Dorothy Shea, the acting US ambassador to the UN, said: “The US has shouldered too much of this burden for too long. Ultimately, the camps cannot remain a direct US financial responsibility.”

Without a replacement for American aid, the resources of the SDF-affiliated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria risk being stretched thin, leaving the camps and prisons vulnerable to revolt or mass escape attempts.

“If US financial assistance is cut without a replacement, it will create significant challenges,” Polat Can, a researcher in international relations and Middle Eastern security, told Arab News.

Even with US support, the camps and prisons had been starved of sufficient funding and manpower.

“External financial support has never fully covered the costs of maintaining prison security, managing detainees and sustaining camp residents,” said Can.

Other foreign donors have helped support the maintenance of camps and prisons but the US remains the largest contributor.

In 2021, the UK provided $20 million to expand a prison in Hasakah, according to the Iraq-based Rudaw news network. Meanwhile, the US spent the much larger sum of $155 million in 2022 alone to train, equip and pay the personnel guarding detainees.

The Syrian National Army offensive that began on Dec. 8 — which has displaced tens of thousands of civilians, many of them ethnic Kurds, from the Shebha region — has placed further strain on the SDF.

The Syrian National Army is backed by Turkiye, apparently as a bulwark against the perceived threat posed by Kurdish militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which recently declared a ceasefire in its decades-old conflict with Ankara.

Washington-based Kurdish affairs analyst Mutlu Civiroglu told Arab News that the SDF has redeployed about half of its personnel that was guarding the prisons to “defend the region from Turkish attacks.”

These developments have made it increasingly difficult for the SDF to contain the threat of a potential Daesh resurgence. As recently as November, a Daesh operative reportedly infiltrated Al-Hol camp and helped fighters to escape.

“The region’s resources are limited, and without external funding the ability to maintain security at these facilities will be increasingly strained,” Can said.

“In the worst-case scenario, this could lead to security vulnerabilities that Daesh cells may attempt to exploit, particularly as the group remains active in the Syrian desert and continues efforts to infiltrate” northeastern areas controlled by the autonomous administration.

The SDF has warned in recent months that the Daesh threat is greater than ever, citing the presence of active sleeper cells in Al-Hol camp and concerns about detainees escaping from Ghuwayran prison.

These fears have intensified since US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw US troops from northeastern Syria. “Syria is its own mess,” he said in late January. “They got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved in every one.”

The SDF has also warned that Daesh is attempting to infiltrate the eastern Deir ez-Zor province from the western bank of the Euphrates River. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has recorded at least 37 Daesh operations in the province since the start of the year, including armed attacks and bombings targeting security forces in areas controlled by the autonomous administration

Until Dec. 11, Deir ez-Zor was under SDF control. However, after a coalition led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham ousted the Assad regime on Dec. 8, it seized the oil-rich eastern city. The SDF remains a presence in parts of the countryside.

In a historic move on March 10, the SDF’s commander-in-chief, Mazloum Abdi, and Syria’s new president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, signed a deal to integrate SDF-controlled civilian and military institutions with the new Damascus administration.

The agreement, signed as Al-Sharaa faced international pressure over the killing of Alawites by government-linked militias in western Syria, could ease the pressure on the SDF, particularly by securing a nationwide ceasefire.

However, the accord, which is set to be implemented by the end of this year, is unlikely to bring any immediate changes to the situation in the Daesh camps and prisons, said Can.

“The issue of detainees — both militants in prisons and their families in camps — remains a major financial, logistical and security challenge in northeastern Syria,” he added.

The US aid freeze will not only affect prison management but also many humanitarian and civilian infrastructure projects, which had long eased some of the financial pressure on the autonomous administration.

Civiroglu said the suspension of aid from the US could create “further uncertainty, especially for initiatives related to displaced persons, refugees, rehabilitation and health services.”

He added: “Syria has long been under siege, embargo and civil war, and Rojava — Kurdish Syria — has been affected even worse. On one side, there’s the opposition group; on the other, the Turkish border, which stretches 910 kilometers and has been closed for years.”

He warned that projects in northeastern Syria established by the US Agency for International Development “have been negatively affected, with many halted.” But Washington’s aid freeze will impact Syria as a whole, he added.

USAID was one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency, which was established by the Trump administration to root out what it views as waste and fraud in the federal bureaucracy.

As a result, the organization and all of its programs essentially have been shut down, creating a massive black hole in the international humanitarian aid budget, with major consequences for fragile states such as Syria.

The Syrian economy is reeling after 14 years of civil war and sanctions. The interim government said the country owes between $20 billion and $23 billion in external debt, a figure that far exceeds its 2023 gross domestic product of $17.5 billion, according to the World Bank.

After the civil war broke out in 2011, Daesh exploited the chaos to expand, attracting tens of thousands of fighters from around the globe. By 2014, the group had conquered an area about the size of Great Britain, spanning Iraq and Syria, where it declared a caliphate.

However, US-led coalition efforts, an SDF ground offensive, and Russian airstrikes wore the group down until its eventual territorial defeat in Baghuz, eastern Syria, in March 2019.

After Daesh’s collapse, foreign fighters and their families were detained. Even now, at least 42,000 women and children — about 80 percent of all detainees — from 110 countries remain in overcrowded, squalid conditions in Al-Hol and Al-Roj, according to the UN.

Rights groups have consistently urged countries to repatriate their nationals who are detained in the camps. New York-based Human Rights Watch has said the continuing detention of these foreign nationals is “unlawful,” noting that they are held under “life-threatening conditions.”

Civiroglu said that “despite the US push and the SDF’s appeal to the international community, there has been little progress in that regard.”

Since 2017, Iraq has repatriated more than 17,796 of its nationals from Syria, according to the Rojava Information Center, but Western countries remain reluctant to do the same.

“The responsibility for these detainees extends beyond the region, as it is an international issue that should involve the UN, the UN Security Council, the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh, the US, and the governments of the detainees’ home countries,” said Can.

Harout Ekmanian, an international lawyer at Foley Hoag in New York, also believes that during this critical transitional period in Syria, countries with citizens in the camps have an obligation to repatriate them and ease the pressure on local authorities.

“Third states with citizens in these camps should take responsibility by facilitating the repatriation of their nationals, providing consular assistance, and ensuring that they are either prosecuted in accordance with fair trial standards or rehabilitated and reintegrated,” he told Arab News.

“With the collapse of the Syrian regime, the restoration of diplomatic channels has become more feasible, leaving no justifiable reason for countries in Europe and beyond to continue delaying the repatriation of their citizens and their families.

“This should not be seen as a favor or charity for Syria, but rather an international obligation for all states with citizens in these camps.”

UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2396 explicitly call on states to prosecute, rehabilitate or reintegrate foreign terrorist fighters, underscoring the responsibility of countries to take action on this matter.

“These prisons house individuals responsible for some of the most egregious international crimes, including the Yezidi Genocide between 2014 and 2017,” said Ekmanian.

“Syria is not adequately equipped to manage the accountability mechanisms and legal procedures required for such a large number of Daesh members. Therefore, third states must ensure criminal accountability via their national courts for those responsible for these crimes, as part of their repatriation and reintegration efforts.

“Additionally, it would be ideal for Syria to collaborate with international partners to develop the necessary capabilities and mechanisms to prosecute Daesh members held in these camps. This issue is also closely tied to the broader need for transitional justice in Syria.”

Can said that while local authorities in northeastern Syria have engaged with international actors to seek long-term solutions, including efforts to repatriate foreign detainees, “many governments remain reluctant to take responsibility for their citizens.”

He added: “At this stage, there is no fully sufficient alternative plan that could compensate for the loss of international support,” and warned that “any major funding gap could deepen existing security risks and create further instability.

“Given the global implications of this issue, sustained international attention and responsibility-sharing are critical.”

BEIRUT: An Israeli drone struck a car in southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing one person who the Israeli military said was a member of Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that a person was critically injured as the drone targeted a Rapide car on the Burj Al-Moulouk road in the border area.

The Israeli army claimed that “a Hezbollah member was about to engage in terrorist activity in Kfarkila.”

Since the ceasefire agreement took effect, the Israeli army has continued targeting Hezbollah leaders and cadres in the border area, north and south of the Litani Line, reaching the northern Bekaa region.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that more than 100 people have been killed since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on Nov. 27.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated him on the work undertaken by the government in support of Lebanon’s unity, security and stability.

In a post published on X, Macron said that he discussed “reconstruction prospects and the reforms that need to be achieved” with Salam.

Macron added that he would receive President Joseph Aoun on March 28 in Paris, and that France’s commitment to Lebanon remained “strong and unwavering” in support of its recovery and sovereignty.

The French support comes as Lebanon engages in diplomacy to urge Israel to withdraw from five strategic hills in the border area.

The hills overlook Lebanese territory on one side and Israeli settlements on the other.

The Israeli army is using live fire to prevent any movement in the border villages, claiming to discourage “Hezbollah activity.”

Much of the Lebanese border region has been destroyed by Israel, with its forces continuing to demolish homes and facilities under the pretext that they belong to Hezbollah.

Lebanon is seeking to negotiate indirectly with Israel under US auspices to resolve 13 disputed land border points.

The development comes after the maritime borders were delineated through indirect negotiations during the leadership of former president Michel Aoun.

President Joseph Aoun urged the US side, during a meeting with the head of the committee overseeing the ceasefire implementation mechanism, to push Israel to withdraw by mid-week and release all Lebanese prisoners it holds.

A high-level diplomatic and military delegation from the US Embassy in Lebanon toured the eastern sector of the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday, accompanied by Brig. Gen. Tony Faris, commander of the Lebanese army’s 7th Brigade.

The delegation observed the measures implemented by the Lebanese army in the border towns.

It assessed the extent of the destruction caused by the Israeli military in many of the towns within the sector.

The tour coincided with a statement from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

He said that the Israeli army “will remain in five locations in southern Lebanon indefinitely to protect the residents of the north, regardless of the negotiations concerning the disputed points along the border.”

Katz instructed the Israeli military to fortify its positions at the five sites and prepare for a prolonged presence there.

Lebanon is preparing to finalize its documents regarding three committees established at the invitation of Washington.

The committees will focus on the release of prisoners, the completion of the Israeli withdrawal and the resolution of the land border dispute.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame visited the ancient castle of Chamaa, located in a village within the Tyre District.

Israeli drones caused significant damage to the castle citadel during the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Israel “attempted to loot the citadel and other historical sites,” Salameh said.

“We have witnessed the systematic destruction of the Shamaa citadel and homes in this village, as well as in other villages. Israel has destroyed 10 sites, which constitutes a war crime,” he added.

Salameh said that Israel’s “destructive operations aimed to erase any chance of life, and we are already witnessing the negative consequences.”

He added that there has been no full commitment by Israel to implement UN Resolution 1701.

“The government remains determined to liberate the remaining occupied Lebanese territories,” the minister said.

“We will focus on reconstruction by encouraging expatriates to contribute and facilitating the entry of capital into Lebanon.”